Healds House

Healds House is a large house, originally a single dwelling, now divided into two properties, largely dating from the 18th century with 19th-century alterations and fragments from the 16th century at the rear. The front facade is of brick with raised stone quoins, a stone band, a stone gutter, and a chamfered stone plinth. It has a hipped stone slate roof with tall, rendered ornamental stacks. It is two storeys high, with a four-bay facade featuring sash windows with raised stone sills. A 19th-century canted bay has been added to the left of the doorway, which itself has a later pilastered doorcase. Above the door is a three-panel tablet with a motif and the words “SAY GOD BE HE(RE)” and the date “IBM 1569”. The right side elevation is partly brick. One late 18th-century style three-light window is located on the first floor. The left elevation features a canted bay to the right and a later lean-to extension. Above the lean-to is a four-light double chamfered window with early, though re-leaded, glass likely dating from the early 18th century. The rear of the building features a variety of altered openings; however, in an outshut to the left is a partly obscured window of round-arched lights with sunken spandrels, originally blocked and later altered to create a doorway. Above this is a reconfigured five-light double chamfered window also with early, restored glazing. The house was used as Miss Wooler's school in 1837, during which time Charlotte Brontë was a teacher and Anne Brontë a pupil. The earlier house served as a meeting house for followers of George Fox in the late 17th century.